Current trends and patterns in agricultural production and trade in agricultural products impact on economic and social development in various ways. First, excessively high tariff peaks continue to apply to products that constitute exports of or offer a potential for export diversification in developing countries. In addition to tariff and non-tariff barriers that hinder access to markets of developed countries, agricultural subsidies by developed countries, whether in the form of direct export subsidies, processing subsidies or direct payments to farmers, also deter entry into their own or third country markets. Total annual levels of support for agriculture in the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries averaged $350 billion in 1996-1998, double the value of agricultural exports from developing countries during those three years. Ironically, despite it being the primary source of income and employment, particularly for low-income groups, agriculture in Africa is currently one of the most liberal and subsidy free in the world.
Efforts to dismantle subsidies in OECD have led to deep cuts in farm subsidies in some countries, while resistance to such cuts in others have created tensions in trade negotiations involving agricultural products. But cuts in subsidies for agriculture in developed countries have been accompanied by a phenomenal growth of corporate-driven, industrial agriculture that is having a profound effect on land ownership, agricultural production and employment, family farms and rural life and society as a whole. In parts of the world where women account for much of the food production, such as Africa, it also has an impact on women's livelihoods. Concern regarding the social and environmental impact of industrial agriculture has been compounded by the domination, as a result of mergers, of certain industries, such as the seeds, meat and grain handling industries, by large global corporations along with their marketing apparatus. Genetically modified foods being developed, patented and promoted by some corporations have raised fears of food safety.
Liberalized trade in agriculture should therefore distinguish and strike a fair balance between the need to promote trade access to developing countries in the agricultural sector, provide some measure of protection to farming communities worldwide, and tap the scientific and marketing potential of corporate agriculture. A single, uniform and universal regime is likely to benefit corporate industrial agriculture based in the developed world at the expense of rural employment and development, poverty eradication and growth in developing countries and rural farming communities everywhere. These concerns need to be considered together with issues of food security and productivity, culture and environment.